Panoramic Photography

Description

This experiment was a photographic task accomplished aboard the command service module (CSM) in the scientific instrument module bay (SIM bay). The Itek panoramic camera had a 610-mm (24 in.) focal length lens and used 127- by 1219-mm (5- by 48-in.) B/W 3414 film. The camera was operated automatically and provided stereoscopic coverage by tilting forward and aft on a gimbal. This motion compensated for the forward motion of the spacecraft. The purpose of the experiment was to obtain high-resolution (1 to 2 m) panoramic photographs of the lunar surface at 100-km altitude with stereoscopic and monoscopic coverage. The experiment will help the principal investigators for the other SIM experiments to correlate their experimental data with lunar surface terrain features. Targets included farside features, eastern limb areas, nearside Maria, the LM landing site in the Descartes region, near-terminator regions (under very low-angle illumination providing high relief of the terrain), and possible Apollo 17 landing areas. Over 1400 useful photographs were obtained.